By Samori Benjamin
The Brooklyn Nets beat the Orlando Magic Tuesday night and it was so good it was counted twice. Well, not really, but the NBA has implemented a new In-Season Tournament for the first time this season and the Nets 124-104 win over Orlando was their first such game at home. Brooklyn swingman Spencer Dinwiddie had game highs of 29 points and 9 assists. “I just thought the command that he had from the beginning of the game was suited for us to win tonight.” Brooklyn Head Coach Jacque Vaughn said after game. “His ability to get downhill and get to the rim, you saw that early and often, that put a lot of pressure on them, and then the ability to make shots. That combination is lethal, he has the ability to do that for us.” The two players whom the Nets got back from Phoenix last February in the Kevin Durant trade, Mikal Bridges had 21 points for Brooklyn, and Cam Johnson added 20 points.
It was just a two- point game to start the fourth quarter but the Nets shut the door outscoring Orlando 36-18 over the final period. Dinwiddie scored 11 points in the fourth. “I think defensively we were solid and sound, that it led to offense on the other end,” Cam Johnson said afterward. “Obviously Spence had a great quarter, really gave us a big lift, timely buckets, it kind of hurts the other team’s confidence. Guys really played well across the board.”
These In-Season Tournament games also count as regular season games, and they are played on Tuesday and Friday nights in November. There are three groups in each conference for a total of six and there are five teams in each group. Each team plays every team in their group once for a total of four games. The winner of each group will advance to a knockout round along with one wild card team from each conference for a total of eight teams. The knockout round which consists of the quarterfinals, semifinals, and the tournament championship game will be played in early December. The semifinals and championship will be played in Las Vegas.
The win against Orlando was the Nets third In-Season Tournament game as they won their first game in Chicago and lost their second game last Friday in Boston. The Nets now have a 2-1 record in tournament play with one more game left versus Toronto. On the season the Nets record is now 6-5. Orlando falls to 5-5 and this was their first In-Season Tournament game.
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